Style Inspiration From a Costume Designer

Costume designer Julie Weiss sees her designs as tools in the actors' performances.
Rebecca Greenfield for The Wall Street Journal

By

Christina Binkley

Nov. 28, 2012 7:33 p.m. ET

Costume designer Julie Weiss doesn't particularly like the term "costume." She sees the clothes she makes as tools of communication.

In creating the wardrobes for the soon-to-be-released movie "Hitchcock," she considered color, shape, fabric, fit and fashion history—all the while developing outfits that would support each actor's performance. The movie includes Anthony Hopkins as director Alfred Hitchcock, Helen Mirren as his wife, Alma Reville, Scarlett Johansson as actress Janet Leigh and Jessica Biel as actress Vera Miles.

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"As a costume designer, you are part of the merger between that actor and their character," says Ms. Weiss, who is currently working on costumes for the coming Broadway production of "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof."

Unlike fashion designers, who create for a brand, costume designers create looks that are right for specific events and characters. That is akin what we all do to dress for the day at hand. Ms. Weiss's thinking offers insight for dressers trying to equip themselves for the scenes of their own lives. Here are six guiding principles that emerge from her work on "Hitchcock."

In an opening scene, a beige dress with a draped bodice establishes the dichotomy of Alma's character as a loyal wife and as a capable but underrecognized filmmaker. "When she put that dress on, her posture changed," Ms. Weiss recalls of Ms. Mirren's wardrobe test. "We knew that was her." Its elegant silhouette, easy flattering fit and neutral color let her character dominate a scene in which Alma seeks (unforthcoming) compliments on her appearance from her husband.

"That to me was the perfect film dress," Ms. Mirren said after a Los Angeles screening of the film.

Like any shopper, Ms. Weiss looks all over for the perfect outfits. For "Hitchcock," which covers the period when the director was making "Psycho," she studied the film as well as the lives of the characters, digging through news archives and even interviewing people who knew them. She haunted vintage stores as well as the archives of costume companies such as Western Costume Co., Palace Costume & Prop Co. in Los Angeles, and Early Halloween in New York. "Hitchcock" director Sacha Gervasi says he hired Ms. Weiss because she arrived for her interview so well-prepared. "She has a whole back story to every detail."

In film, as in the board room, hot colors can connote control. Ms. Weiss dressed Alma in a deep red suit for a scene in which she takes charge of the filming of 'Psycho," which has spun out of control. Yet softer colors are less likely to overwhelm a scene in which an actor needs to emote subtly.

ENLARGE

Costume notes from the movie "Hitchcock."
Fox Searchlight Pictures

4) Focus on the overall effect, even if it requires altering details.

"Psycho" was in black and white, so Ms. Weiss filled in the blanks when it came to dressing the characters of Ms. Leigh and Ms. Miles. Ms. Leigh was said to have worn a blue dress in the film, but the costume designer says she didn't replicate the costumes that closely. She dressed Mr. Hitchcock in his roomy black suits in each scene because that is the way he is remembered—though the director probably wore other clothes at home. The key to good costuming is to "simplify—unless, of course, you're Elizabeth I," notes Ms. Mirren, recalling another of her roles.

The costume designer builds wardrobes she believes her characters would collect for themselves—just as stylists often advise real clients to create a unique style for themselves. For Mr. Hitchcock's assistant, played by Toni Collette, she relied on the sort of appropriate-but-classy professional wardrobe that many midlevel managers would love to have. (Some current styles are right in line with that era). "She looks the part of a working woman who is proud of what she wears," Ms. Weiss says. Yet Ms. Weiss was mindful that this character wouldn't want to overshadow the boss.

ENLARGE

Scarlett Johansson in the movie "Hitchcock."
Fox Searchlight Pictures

6) Realize it may take time to make a piece your own.

When actors test a wardrobe, Ms. Weiss feels it is important that they take time to settle into a costume. "You design a piece, and (the actor) tries it on," she says, "and then you wait until that costume becomes an item of clothing."

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